Sharing my passion for health and fitness.

Tag Archives: workout

Thank you all so much for your kind words about my grandma. She is stubborn but all that matters is she’s okay :) I will definitely let you all know recipes I use with the peanut flour and PB2 when the time comes.

~~~~~

First of all, lets cover dinner.

I literally just showed you guys a recipe that I hijacked from Chelsey but I used another one of her recipes again. It just sounded too good to pass up!

Too bad I didn’t have an acorn squash to make it look as cool. Instead, I had regular squash so I sautéed them in the pan instead of the brussels. The brussel sprouts were actually microwaveable (shhhh…) and I threw them in at the last minute with the chickpeas.

Oh my gosh, I loved this. The sauce was super yummy and everything just blended perfectly. I’ve been looking for a new quinoa recipe and this was a winner. You all need to make it ASAP.

Fashion

Here are some of my outfits from the past few days!

This picture has really good quality. I have skills. This is my lazy girl takes a midterm outfit. Long T-shirt, spandex, toms.

I do not consider workout/yoga clothes fashion, AT ALL. In fact, I consider it “scrubbbin” but since this is my favorite top I thought I’d share. I got this top at TJ Maxx surprisingly, and I love it. It’s stretchy, comfy, and I love the color:) They had so much workout wear there!

Sometimes a little cover-up sweater is enough to spruce up an outfit.

Tank from Target, cover from H & M. This post just reminded me how much I really need to go shopping.

FINAL REVIEW

Finally! So you may or may not know, but I got the chance to try out Love Grown Granola. I told you all I’d share my final thoughts on the products I received.

Beside the fact that they have an amazing story and passion, their products are all natural, gluten free, and free of anything unprocessed.

I try to eat mostly all unprocessed foods so this was perfect to read :)

My final verdict? Officially… OBSESSED.

Yeah, I said it. Each and every bag is almost gone. Already.

Mind you, I got this package exactly a week ago. (My mom has been eating it too so I’m not that crazy).

Apple Walnut Delight

I LOVED the little pieces of apple. It went perfectly with the coconut sheets and it was the perfect amount of sweetness and nuttiness.

Raisin Almond Crunch

Put raisins and almond together in one product? I am all over that. I think that is one of the best combos in the world and throw it in granola with coconut? I’m pretty sure I have no further explaining to do :)

Sweet Cranberry Pecan

This. was. my. favorite. I love anything cranberry. For some reason cranberries in granola is x20948299238 better than anything else with cranberries. I don’t normally eat pecans all that much but I think this bag made me want to eat them more. The pecans and cranberries were perfect together. They complemented each other so well and it was all around delicious.

Simply Oats

How can you go wrong with regular granola? You can’t. It is perfect to mix with anything your little heart desires. Any flavor granola, mix it in with cereal, put it on top of a baked good, the possibilities are endless. Loved the flavor of this just as much as the others.

As you all can see, I clearly hated every second of tasting this granola. Just. Kidding. It’s obvious how much I LOVED it all

Good afternoon :D I thought I’d start this post with a picture of a very beautiful creature. What else is new? I’m obsessed and convinced I need to go to doggie rehab.

Whew, I feel like I have a lot to talk about! I take a mini break from blogging to try and be a good student to study for a test, but then it backfires and I feel like I have missed too much :)

Lets start with yesterday shall we?

A couple of days ago, I decided to order something of iHerb. I had never ordered anything from there but have been wanting to try a few things. I decided not to go way too overboard and only order two things.

PB2 and peanut flour. Yes, they are both from the peanut family which I didn’t even notice until after I made the purchase. What can I say? I love peanut butter:)

Peanut flour is a flower made from peanuts which is gluten free and has a very high protein content. I am excited to try it!

PB2 on the other hand, is peanut butter in powder form. It has the fat and oil removed from it and is only 45 calories for 2 tablespoons.

I have only tried the PB2 so far. My verdict? It’s pretty good, but as a hardcore peanut butter lover, it isn’t my favorite. I love how you can eat peanut butter straight from a spoon, whereas PB2 has pretty much the same taste but not the same. If ya know what I mean. Nothing really compares to the real thang ;) I still like it though, and will definitely make use of it, trust me!

iHerb also added in a few extra goodies into the package which I was not expecting.

I have no idea what any of these things are, but hey they were free so fine with me.

OH! Plus, if you have never ordered from iHerb before, I have a special code for you all to get $5 off! They literally have everything so I recommend you check it out.

Code: QAV545

Enjoy!<3

~~~~~~~

I didn’t get to the gym till around 6 pm last night which is a lot later than usual for me. Yesterday was my strength training day so my mom and I did 20 minutes on the treadmill to start. I completed this hilly workout but cut out the first five minutes. It’s a good one! Afterwards, we completed this strength routine that I came up with beforehand.

For the combined sets, you do the workouts simultaneously. For the supersets, you do them one after the other then rest. Each workout is 15 reps, 3 sets.

Combined Set 1- Deadlift + Upright Row with a Calf Raise. Basically you do the deadlift and go straight into the upright row on your toes, then repeat.

I didn’t have ground flax for the “flax egg” but I decided to use wheat germ instead. I do not think they relate to each other in any way but I didn’t know what else to do. My stomach was yelling at me to hurry up and who the f cares how I make the flax egg. I decided to roll with it and it still came out good!! Maybe a little soft, but yummy nonetheless.

Anything with pumpkin is bound to be delicious. I topped it with some PB2 (much better on this muffin than alone), cherry preserves, and shredded coconut. YUM! The perfect amount for before yoga. Thanks again Chelsey :D

~~~~~~~~~~

Family Scare

Once I got into my car after yoga, I had a missed call and a text from my mom. It said that my grandma was in the hospital. I immediately freaked out, pretty much hyperventilated, and called my mom 792 times with no answer. I just sat there and prayed to God she was alright and to please watch over her.

My mom finally called me back and sounded normal. I was expecting hysterically crying, yelling, something but nope she sounded fine. I was confused and she told me that my grandma just had surgery done for her cataracts without telling us. I burst into tears (mind you, I NEVER cry) and told my mom I thought she had a heart attack, was dying, or something very severe. My mom kind of chuckled and felt really bad that she scared me but I just thanked God that she was okay.

My grandma is VERY stubborn and does not like to rely on anyone for anything. She grew up constantly taking care of her younger sister and was pretty much the authority figure. She refuses to ask us for anything, but always gives us everything. My grandma is my hero and I look up to her in so many ways. I know she knows how much I appreciate everything she has done for me, but I need to take more time to really show her how much I care. It is a very littler thing compared to all she has done.

This scare just made me realize that I NEED to start calling her every day. I also need to start calling my Dad and Brother more too. Sometimes we go weeks without talking to each other AT ALL. At least I talk to my brother via twitter and facebook (sad I know) and my mom I live with, but I barely ever hear from my dad or my grandma.

You never really know when something could happen, or when your life, or a loved ones life could come to an end. I really don’t mean to end this post on an upsetting note, but it is definitely something to think about.

New Goal: Call my loved ones A LOT more often. Tell them I love them everyday :) Fam[ily] is everything. Blood is thicker than water.

Okay, I’m done:P

This post ended up being SUPER long, thanks to those of you who read through it! I know my attention span is like a goldfish’s at times (.25 milliseconds), so I’m sure some of you are the same.

Have you ever tried PB2?

For those of you who have peanut flour, give me ideas of what to do with it! :)

How often do you talk to your family that you don’t live with?

What are your tactics to remind yourself to call?

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Yesterday’s workout called for some strength training. I look forward to my strength training, which I do Monday, Wednesday, Friday. As much as I love cardio, I really love the feeling after a great workout with some weights. I feel strong:)

I always make sure to do a bit of cardio though to really get my heart pumpin’. I saw this treadmill workout on Lindsay’s blog and thought it looked like a good mix of intervals and hills. I ended up switching it around though and doing the intervals first then the hills second and shortened the time. My workout ended up looking like this.

Minutes

Speed

Incline

0-1

4.0

1.0

1-1:30

9.0

1.0

1:30-3

4.5

1.0

3-3:30

9.0

1.0

3:30-5

4.5

1.0

5-5:30

9.3

1.0

5:30-7

4.5

1.0

7-7:30

9.3

1.0

7:30-9

4.5

1.0

9-9:30

9.5

1.0

9:30-21

4.5

1.0

21-22

5.8

8.0

22-23

4.0

8.0

23-24

5.6

9.0

24-25

4.0

9.0

25-26

5.4

10.0

26-27

4.0

10.0

27-28

5.2

11.0

28-29

4.0

11.0

29-30

5.0

12.0

30-31

4.0

12.0

31-32

3.8

0

After that was done with, I completed this total body strength workout.

I figured I’d start off today’s post with some cuteness. Be prepared people, it may take your breath away.

This is my Friday favorite. Well actually every second of my life favorite but same thing.

I LOVE when Bentley does this. When he’s acting like a baby, I pick him up and he hugs me and rests his head on my shoulder. I had to capture the moment<3

PERFECT EXAMPLE right here. I die.

Oh and a little bit of modeling occurred.

Look at that face. Sometimes I think he is a stuffed animal because he is so beautiful. He should be a dog model, for sure.

~~~

Last night I was going to post but I got way to distracted by Grey’s Anatomy two hour season premier!

Whoops how’d that get in there? ;D Nuff said.

~~~~~

Anyway, time to catch you all up on what I did yesterday. I didn’t get to the gym till about 6 pm last night. That’s super late for me! I usually like to workout in the mornings but my early classes have been preventing me from doing so.

I also had to look at some more apartments before working out so that’s why I got there late. It was still a great workout!

Thursday’s are my cardio-only days so I do about an hour. I like to split up my running into HIIT, speed, steady, and hilly. Yesterday I decided to do my hilly run and found a great one on Courtney’s blog. I followed the treadmill routine exactly but upped the incline on the last five minutes. I then ran for another mile and cooled down ending with 5.16 miles.

I think I need to get on a two-a-day blogging schedule because I don’t like having to catch up from all day yesterday and then this morning! Oh well it’s fine for now!

Today

I woke up and went over to the gym and completed a mile of HIIT on the treadmill and then completed about 18 minutes on the elliptical for some cross training. I did a minute forward with light resistance going faster and a minute backwards with higher resistance the entire time.

I then took my favorite body works class! Of course the instructor focused mostly on shoulders and triceps when that’s what I focused on Wednesday for my workout –___- It was still a great class though, loved it.

When I got home I was starving. My stomach was eating itself and I was craving eggs.

I heated up some spinach and tomatoes then tried to make an omelet.

I am the worst omelet maker in the world. I always mess it up! So it turned into scrambled eggs.

With half a whole wheat bagel and 1/2 laughing cow cheese.

I haven’t had bagels in forever but they were buy one get one free so I got some!

Now I’m off and ready to tackle the day. Homework and maybe some pool time is calling my name!

Don’t you just love the sound of that? I do. I usually have no class but I have a statistics test today at 4! So quick post before I get my study groove on.

Yesterday

I was stuck at the car dealer for over 4 hours. I have been having troubles with it and needed to get TONS of work done. Turns out I now needed new tires on top of that. Luckily I have student loans that helped me pay it off!

After sitting at the dealer, I was starving. My mom suggested we go out to eat because we were both exhausted. We decided on Japanese and headed over to Saitos which we’ve been to many times and we know it’s good. It is a Japanese restaurant with Hibachi tables (where they cook in front of you), and the other half is for people who want the regular menu or sushi from the sushi bar.

We started off with splitting soup and a salad.

We weren’t sure what we wanted to we ended up splitting a sushi / sashimi plate of Chef’s choice.

Such a pretty display! Salmon, Tuna, and another type of fish that I don’t know of sashimi. Eel on the left? and Mini tuna roll on the bottom. So good, loved it! I actually like sashimi and I used to always be afraid to try it.

We were satisfied afterward but between the two of us we weren’t overly stuffed. That only means one thing…..room for dessert ;)

I really wanted Froyo but my mom isn’t a huge fan of it. I know, how is she my mother?!?!

We saw a cute little bakery near the restaurant we were at and wanted to check it out. I forgot to snap pictures of what was inside but it was adorable!

They had a huge spread of cupcakes, cakes, cookies, biscotti’s, pastries, and more. They also had gelato.

I have NEVER had gelato before last night. There’s a first time for everything! Since I had froyo on my mind I knew I had to try it.

I got the Amaretto flavor which is like a almond paste. Since I love almond butter so much, I figured I needed to give it a try.

Oh my gosh. SO GOOD. I don’t know why I’ve never had it before? It was so rich and I only needed a small amount which was awesome. I was afraid the sugar would keep me up but I crashed pretty early!

Workout

This morning I woke up early and trekked over to the gym. I completed 15 minutes of intervals on the treadmill. It ended up being 1.61 miles.

I switched off from sprinting a minute, to fast walking for a minute. Nice and sweaty!

I still had time to kill before the body works class I was taking so I hopped on the elliptical and completed 2.09 miles on there. (About 18 minutes). I switched off from front pedaling a minute, to back pedaling a minute.

The body works class I took is the one I LOVE. It’s my favorite instructor and I got a great strength workout! I was feeling the burn today!

Breakfast

I really wanted eggs this morning. I came home to no eggs in the house :(

We are in need of a serious food shopping. Although I feel like I JUST went. The one time I want eggs, there are none. My life. I normally want oats, nut butter, cereal, or yogurt in the mornings so when an egg craving hits, I like to have it. Oh well next time!

I saw ANOTHER, yes another, empty nut butter jar in the fridge. You know what that means…

Tuesday’s I have to wake up about a quarter to 6 am to get ready for school and leave in time.

I knew since I wouldn’t have a bunch of time to dilly dally and take time for breakfast it would be nice to have it already prepared. It was quite yummy too.

I made a new mix:

1/3 C. Oats

1/3 C. Unsweetened Almond Milk

1 mini Blueberry Activia

1 Tbs. Chia Seeds

1/2 Banana

1/2 Peach

1 Tbs. Raisins

Sprinkle Cinnamon

All mixed up and put into the fridge overnight.

~~~

Instead of waking up super early to get my workout in yesterday, I decided to go later in the afternoon after school.

My mom told me she wanted to get more toned and I offered to train her a few times during the week. We usually take spinning together on Tuesday’s and we workout on Saturday’s together but she works all day so it’s hard to be able to go at the same time during the week.

I went over to the gym and completed a HIIT workout very similar to this one on Julie’s blog. However, I did switch up the remaining minutes to make it a bit longer.

Instead of walking on an incline, I jogged. I then completed four more minutes of walking at an incline as a cool down and finished within 25 minutes total.

After my run, I dove into a full body weights workout from Bridal Boot camp over at Fitnessista’s blog. No, I’m not getting married ha. It just looked like a good workout. I did everything except the cardio portions in between because I had already finished my cardio beforehand.

Although I do love running distances, I really love HIIT training. Sure, it’s definitely hard and tires you out, but that’s what I love about it.

Call me crazy:) I just want to highlight what is great about it.

BENEFITS OF HIIT

I know the benefits off the top of my head, but in case you guys wanted written words from professionals I will show you Star Central Magazine’s version of benefits.

You get “more bang for your buck”. As in, you get more done, in LESS time. If you’re one of those people that hate to do steady cardio for a long period of time, then you’ve found your match!

Your Resting Metabolic Rate is increased. You know how you’ve heard time and time before that weight training is awesome because you burn calories AFTER you workout? Well, this is the same exact case with HIIT. Where some cardio you are only burning calories DURING the process, HIIT allows you to burn AFTER it as well as during. This means even if you’re doing nothing all day, you’ll be burning more calories.

You won’t get bored. You are huffing and puffing and changing your speeds every minute. Before you know it, your workout will be done!

It’s the quickest way to get fit, lose fat, supercharges your workouts, and increases anaerobic threshold.

If you are just a beginner do a 5 minute warm-up, walk one minute the go as fast as you can for the next, with a 5 minute cool down.

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I hope everyone is enjoying their long weekend. I always do when I have a few extra days off from school

Yesterday I was hoping to sleep in but I woke up at 7 am. I wanted to go back to sleep but Bentley had ran into my room and wanted to cuddle!

He was being way too adorable for me to say no, and I couldn’t fall back asleep so I decided just to wake up. I brewed some coffee and caught up on some blogs before deciding that I wanted to get a run in before the Body Works Class I planned to take at 9:45.

I was going to run outside because it wasn’t raining, but it is honestly still way too hot and humid here in Florida so I just decided to do a treadmill workout instead. If I don’t wake up early enough, it gets hot SO fast here.

I went over to my mini gym and completed about 4 miles of running and .25 as a cool down, 4.25 total. I found an old workout that included hills and a good speed that wasn’t too slow which was what I completed but I can’t remember what blog I found it on. Once I figure it out I’ll be more than happy to share with you guys. It was a really great run!

There was actually a power surge after about 9 minutes into my run which was really weird because it was bright and sunny out! That’s not the first time that’s happened to me before. It has actually happened quite a few times.

Once I finished my run strong, I went back home and my mom was ready to go for the class. We don’t get to workout together much because she works 8-5 everyday and she won’t wake up early with me. So when we get the chance we like to, I definitely push her more. I could easily train her!

The class was great, it incorporated strength and kept our heart rates up the whole time so it wasn’t slow and boring.

We had to stop at the grocery store on the way home because we had NO food. I had cereal for dinner the night before, that’s an example of no food in the house.

I only had some cantaloupe and coffee for breakfast so we were hungry after our workout. Food shopping while hungry may not be the best idea. Trust me.

Yay stocked fridge!! We came home with enough food to feed an army. Tons of food!

Fruit and veggie drawers are definitely the best part! I feel like I can eat healthier when we have more food because I have a variety and more options to make better choices.

I was famished when we finally got home and put everything away so we made a quick sandwich.

Just a simple turkey with half muenster, half gouda cheese, a bit of hummus, lettuce and tomato on toasted rye bread. Quick and easy.

There was some chores to get done around the house so we got cleaning. I always have to clean the house every weekend, it feels so much nicer when everything’s clean.

Once everything was done, we decided it was nice enough to head over to the pool.

I jumped in the hot tub once we got there and it was on fire! Don’t ask me why I wanted to go in the 104 degree hot tub in 95 degree weather. I’m a complete weirdo.

I quickly dove into the pool and laid in the sun for a little while until I couldn’t take it anymore. I get really antsy laying out especially when it’s hot. I decided to head home not long after and shower. I love showers.

After relaxing and some homework, it was time for dinner.

We had chicken shish kabobs with veggies, a potato, and peas.

The chicken was super juicy which I was actually surprised about. Plus peas + potato is such a good combo. Yummy meal!

I finally painted my nails! I love when they’re painted but who knows how long they will last.

I wanted to do something different and fun so I painted the middle one a lighter color. I like it Maybe it looks like I’m 12 but I don’t really care.

Yum, I’m sure you guys really wanted to see a picture of my ginormous feet But just wanted to show the color, I love the dark!

I was craving froyo after dinner so we went out and got some!

We tried a new place and unfortunately I didn’t really like it. The handles were weird, the flavors weren’t that great so we were a little disappointed but I found a couple I liked. They had a little variety of toppings too.

I feel like I can never go wrong with cake batter + cookies n cream. I usually want to try something new but these were the best out of all of them. I topped it with strawberries, coconut, a few mini Reese’s PB cups, and a squirt of fudge. Froyo craving fixed! I haven’t had it in a while, so I was over due.I never realized how much I like coconut either, I need to start buying it for home!

I’m going out for the day to enjoy the last bit of the long weekend. The good thing about the weekend being over? It’s a shorter week and will get to the next weekend faster

Was I excited? Yes. Was I nervous? Very. Do I regret moving home? Maybe, probably.

At the time I made the decision to move home, it was absolutely the best decision for me.

Now that I look back and really think if I did the right thing, I’m not so sure. I am super sad that I’m not there with friends I was supposed to be living with, but at the same time knowing I’m saving so much money makes me feel better.

I do think it will be fine and I will get to experience a totally new environment, people, and school. I also am not sure what I want to do with the rest of my life but I know I will transfer again next year to another university.

I will take the time I am living home this year to figure out what the heck I want to major in FOR SURE and where I want to go in life. Pretty much I will make the best of the situation and really spend time to get awesome grades and raise my GPA so I can go to a better school next year.

I can always transfer back to UCF next semester if I can’t stand it here, but right now this is where I am and I’ll take it one day at a time.

Yesterday

Lets back track really quick! Since I didn’t have time to blog last night I’ll do a quick recap of what I did on my last day of summer.

My mom had plans to go to Rapids Water Park with a group from her church. She literally begged me to go and since her birthday is next weekend, I couldn’t say no!

I forgot to snap pictures the whole time! It was definitely more fun when I was younger, but we still had a great time! I haven’t been there since I was like 10 so it was fun to ride the rides still.

I was exhausted when we got home but we made dinner and just relaxed.

I got stuff ready for school and actually found out my class was a half hour earlier than I originally thought! I’m so glad I rechecked my schedule!

My brother came in to town from college at about midnight, and I was so glad to see him! He’s staying only till tomorrow until he heads further south to see some friends and my dad. I love him!

Workout

This morning I wanted to give myself enough time to get to the gym, and have time to get ready without being rushed. I can’t stand when I feel rushed, I get stressed out!

I have a problem. Every time my alarm goes off, I tend to hit snooze about 79 times, while still asleep, before I actually get up out of bed. That was the case this morning. Not a big surprise!

After having my daily dose of caffeine, I geared up and went over to the gym in my apartment complex instead of LA Fitness. I figured it’s usually empty and closer so it would be great for a workout sesh before school.

Low and behold, I arrived to have no one else in there! This gym is super convenient when I want to get a good workout in without driving all the way to the gym.

Treadmills, Elliptical

Machines

Free weights, Benches

Bikes, Elliptical

Not too shabby for a mini gym, huh?

I completed a workout similar to this one where I switched from cardio to weights and back a couple of times.

I warmed up with 2 miles on the treadmill and ended up doing an interval series. It wasn’t a crazy interval but it was good for a warm up, it definitely still got my heart pumpin’!

It looked like this:

Distance

Speed

Incline

.20

6.0

1.5

.10

6.7

1.5

.10

6.0

1.5

.10

6.7

1.5

Continue this until you reach 2 miles! Feel free to alter it to match your needs.

After this I completed this strength series:

Dual Axis Pull Down –

Primary: Latissimus Dorsi, Secondary: Biceps, Lower Trapezius

3 sets, 15 reps, 30 lbs

Dual Axis Chest Press -

Primary: Pectorals, Anterior Deltoids, Secondary: Triceps, Biceps

3 set, 15 reps, 30 lbs..

Deadlifts

3 sets, 15 reps, 40 lbs. (20 lbs. each hand)

Shoulders

12 reps each shoulder

Single Dead Lifts

12 reps, 20 lb. each side

Shoulders

12 reps, 5 lbs. each hand

Then I completed a mile on the treadmill incorporating hills.

Minutes

Speed

Incline

0-2

6.0

1.0

2-4

6.0

2.5

4-6

6.0

4.0

6-8

6.0

5.5

8-9

6.0

7.0

9-10

6.0

1.0

Last set of strength:

Biceps –1. Front & side: 12 reps, 10 lb. each set 2. All the way up, half way down 12 reps 3. All the way down, half way up 12 reps

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I'm Brittany! 19 year old college student with a passion for health and fitness. Currently obsessed with running, my dog, and also believe in fun and moderate indulgences. The greatest accomplishment is to do what you think you can not do; so challenge yourself & go the extra mile :)